Multidrug Resistance Regulators as Artificial Enzymes

In the quest for greener chemistry to substitute the often toxic, waste-producing and polluting processes of the chemical industry, nature is frequently taken as inspiration. Enzymes are the best chemists on earth, they have been evolved to become extremely efficient and selective for a specific activity. Artificial (metallo)enzymes (ArMs) are hybrid bio-chemical systems aiming to combine the broad reaction scope of organic chemistry and the high efficiencies and selectivities of enzymes, while working under environmentally friendly conditions.
This thesis describes the design and creation of several ArMs based on non-catalytic Multidrug Resistance Regulator proteins. Here, we show how the multispecificity of these proteins allows the incorporation of several metal complexes and substrates into their scaffolds to create a range of ArMs for different reactivities using different assembly methodologies.